FarmVille-maker Zynga attempts to trademark the word 'ville' in Europe

FarmVille, CityVille, FrontierVille -- any games with the word 'Ville' in the title has pretty much become synonymous with social game-maker Zynga. Now, the San Francisco-based company is trying to officially put its claim on the word 'Ville' in Europe, Fusible reports, filing a trademark for the name with the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM).

This trademark application comes on the heels of Zynga's recent lawsuit against a West Virginia developer which was creating a game called BlingVille, which then resulted in a counter-suit. By the way, Zynga does not currently own the trademark for 'Ville,' and a quick search on the United States Patent and Trademark Office site doesn't show that this has been attempted, yet. It would be surprising if Zynga could acquire the exclusive rights in the US to such a generic term, then again, stranger things have happened.